The original school was opened in 1911 as a one year school. It expanded to a three-year school two years later and it finally became a four-year high school in 1924, the year that the District began. The school was expanded many times until, in 1958, when a second campus was built in Northlake, known as West Leyden.
Due to a poor economy and less students being enrolled in the District, the two schools decided to combine athletic teams, starting in the 1981-82 school year. To this day, the schools still compete together as Leyden High School.[6]
East Leyden's class of 2008 had an average composite ACT score of 19.8, 0.7 points below the state average.[3] 86.1% of the senior class graduated.[3] East Leyden did not make Adequate Yearly Progress on the Prairie State Achievements Examination, which with the ACT comprises the state assessments used to fulfill the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Overall, the school did not achieve AYP in reading, and one student subgroup failed to meet expectations in reading and mathematics.[3]
West Leyden and East Leyden have competed as a combined athletic program since the 1981—82 school year.[7]
The school competes in the West Suburban Conference. It is also a full member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), which governs most sports and competitive activities in Illinois. Teams are stylized as the "Eagles", with the IHSA referring to the combined program as "Franklin Park-Northlake (Leyden)".
Jerry Wainwright was the assistant basketball coach at Leyden (1975—78). In 2005, he became the head coach for the men's basketball team at DePaul University and is now director of basketball operations for Marquette.[25]
^Olvera, Jennifer; Journey rocker honored at East Leyden High School; 12 May 2004; Elm Leaves; Loving his new locale, Cain went on to attend East Leyden High School in Franklin Park; accessed 16 July 2009
^Project Management Challenge 2006 Biography" "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 2010-06-10. Retrieved 2013-10-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Accessed 6 May 2009
^Bell, Taylor; Gloray Days Illinois - Legends of Illinois High School Basketball; pp. 118—120; section titled: Glen Grunwald: East Leyden High SchoolSports publishing LLC; 2006